NBC to broadcast Olympics to 2032

NBC has signed a new contract to exclusively air Olympics in the years to come.

The network giant has extended its contract to be the only network that can air the Olympics in America until year 2032. That is a total of six Olympic Games. It covers the summer Olympics in 2024, 2028 and 2032, including the winter games in 2022, 2026 and 2030.

It’s a $7.7 billion contract that includes the right to exclusively air via TV, Internet, and even on mobile.

Steve Burke, NBC universal chief executive said this event is one of the important days in the media firm’s history.

The media firm is known to have spent almost the same amount ($4.38 billion) to have the exclusive right to broadcast the Olympics until 2020. Now, to secure the share of large audiences who are watching real time until 2032, NBC has signed on for more and paid more.

NBC’s executives said it is a long-term investment as they expected the contract to yield profitable results. The Olympics usually deliver big ratings both to the media firm and to all the cable channels associated to them.

The media firm’s role has not always put them on a good light as people have been complaining about their tape-delaying tactics for years just so NBC can make sure events will be shown on US primetime hours. To address that, the media firm broadcasted the 2014 Winter Olympics live and just replayed the popular events for primetime viewing.

NBC raked $1 billion worth of advertising revenue for the 2012 London Olympics. This makes NBC confident that indeed buying the rights to broadcast the biggest sporting event in the world until 2032 is a long-term investment.

International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach said the deal ensures a long-term financial security for the giant sporting event. He said NBC’s passion for the game’s values and their sports broadcast expertise will ensure that the American people will get first-class coverage of the Olympics for a very long time.

The deal was not made through an open bidding. The arrangement was made in clandestine between NBC and IOC. Comcast chairman Brian Roberts said they believe in the future of broadcast TV and they are confident that IOC will bring great games.

NBC has agreed to spend at least $100 million to help promote the sports event between years 2015 and 2020.

Olympic Games host cities for years 2022 and beyond have not yet been announced.